Summit to address critical animal welfare issues

The day and a half conference will be held on April 8-9 at the Sheraton
Crystal City Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. This year's theme will be ''Animal
Welfare: Building Bridges Across the Food Chain.''

For the second year in a row, Mike Adams, host of rural American radio
programme AgriTalk and one of America's best-known agricultural journalists,
will moderate this event.

Special topics to be addressed at the Summit
include:- Animal welfare's impact on the future of food
retail- Meeting restaurant and retailer expectations- Legislation,
regulation and government initiatives- Legislation's unintended
consequences- International animal welfare regulation and their potential
impact on trade- The Pew
Commission on industrial farm animal production.

In addition, the Summit breakout sessions will feature speakers focusing on
connecting the food chain, educating consumers and protecting American
agriculture.

Kevin Murphy, President of Food Chain Communications, will focus on the
importance of building relationships across the food chain and then present ways
to strengthen these ever more critical relationships. The importance of this
topic is underscored by an increasing number of statements on animal welfare
made by major grocers and restaurants over the past year.

Johnson-Smith, executive vice president of the Alliance, commented that
"our goal is to provide attendees from around the world the insight and
information to successfully meet future challenges.''